Sunday, January 08, 2006

Minimum 11 Turkish Human Bird Flu Cases

Of the first 4 siblings, WHO counts only 2 as confirmed by lab. They do not dispute that the third sibling probably died of the same thing and that the fourth child who is in intensive care probably has it too. So four.

The second two additional cases unrelated to the four children referenced above in Van, ages nine and three. So six.

Then two more kids in Van, ages five and eight. So eight.

Plus three new confirmed in Ankara, one adult and the two kids who found the discarded gloves used to cull poultry in the bin who have tested positive for H5N1 but are not sick. So eleven.

However, originally the hospital reported at least seven people showing up bleeding from the throat, so there must be a few more there. Klaus Stohr said around 50 seemed the likely count for human cases. There are at least 40 people receiving treatment in the university hospital in Van, 3 in Ankara, and 3 deaths. There are at least a few more suspected cases in hospitals elsewhere.

Articles from which you can confirm the numbers I gave above are CBC & Turkish Press. The first death was January 1st and at the current time the date of first onset of illness is widely reported as December 31st. This is a very high number since first identification. Countries are beginning to close their borders and post travel warnings for Turkey. Tamiflu arrived in Van on Monday.